Folding mechanisms for wrapping machines



1957 J. T. VERHAPPEN ETAL 2,

FOLDING MECHANISMS FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed July 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 19, 1957 J. T. VERHAPPEN ET AL 2,813,388

FOLDING MECHANISMS FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed July 20. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Jacobus T. Val-happen, Henricus J. Maas, and M'artinus Verbalrel, Eindhovn, Netherlands, assignors to N. V.

Vereenigde Tabalrsindustlieen Mignot & De Block, Eindhoven, Netherlands Application July 20, 1954,, Serial No. 444,555

Claims priority, application Netherlands September 14, 1953 l 3 Claims. (c1. s-371- The invention. relates to a composite folding mechanism for folding. the tubular Wrapper end portion extending beyond the rounded or conical end of a cigar wrapped in a sheet of packing material, e. g. cellopha e.

A machine for wrapping cigars ina sheet of cellophane or other packing, material. must be easily adjustable in accordance with the dimensions of the cigars to be wrapped in such material. The invention has for its object to provide a folding mechanism for a wrapping machine, which mechanism is adapted to be mounted in the machine and to be adjusted asa whole and wherein the various folding members are so driven as to make it. possible to adjust said mechanism without the necessity of releasing coupling members provided between the folding. members and the driving. mechanism.

The invention consists in. the provision of a first pair of cooperating folding fingers having concave or straight working edges obliquely directed with respect to the axis along which. the cigar lies during the process of folding the wrapper,a second pair of cooperating folding fingers having working edges exteding parallel. or substantially parallel to said axis, and a pair of tongs movably mounted on a common holder, the folding fingers of both pairs being adapted to be moved with their working edges towards and away from each other in a plane or a curved surface containing said axis, the jaws of said pair of tongs being. adapted to be moved towards and away from one another in a direction at right angles to said surface, and said folding fingers and said jaws being loaded by springs and adapted to be driven by '[llf cooperation of said springs and a single driving-rod which is mounted for axial movement in said holder and adapted to be moved towards and away from said surface in a direction at right angles thereto, the arrangement being such that, during the movement of the driving-rod towards said surface, the folding fingers of both pairs are moved with their working edges from starting positions, in which these edges are spaced apart, towards each other, and thereupon the folding fingers of the second pair. are returned towards their starting positions, and finally the pair of tongs is brought from the open starting position into the closed working position.

These and other features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawing.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folding mechanism according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the folding mechanism of Fig. 1 showing the mechanism in its starting position;

Fig. 2a isaiplan view of the mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the folding mechanism showing its folding fingers in working position;

Fig. 3a is a plan view of the mechanism as shown in Ha ICC Fig. 4 is anend view ofjthe. foldingmechanism showing it when the fingers. of one pair are in working positionand the fingers. of the secondpair are in the starting position with the pair of tongs in closed position;

Fig. 4a is a plan view of the mechanism as shown. in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 5 is a sidev view of a portion of a cigar wrapped in a wrapper of cellophane the projecting end portion of which is flattened by the pair of tongs.

If a. cigar 1 (Figs. 2-5) has been wrapped by a wrapping machine ina sheet of packing material, e. g. cellophane, the end portions. of the tubular wrapper 2. (Fig. 2) will. have to be folded. The process of folding these end portions is carried out by means of two pairs of folding fingers 5, 6 and 7, 8, which are adapted to be swung about pivots 3 and 4, and by a pair of tongs having jaws 9,. 10. During the folding. process the cigar is so positioned with respect to the folding-mechanism as to have its axis contained midway between the folding fingers along the surface in which theworking edges of said fingers. move. Whenthe folding fingers 5, 6,and' 7,8 are moved towardsv each other the initially cylindrical end portion. of the wrapper (Fig. 2.) is squeezed in such a manner that it is given an S' shaped cross section (Fig; 3.). After this has happened the jaws 9 and 10 of the pair of tongs. are moved towards. each other in adirection at right angles to. the surface along which the workingedges of the folding fingers move whereby the end portion of the wrapper having the s-shaped cross section is flattened in the direction of the vertical axis of the 8 and, if necessary, sealed by. heating. ThefingersS, 6 are returned to their starting positions. before the jaws 9, 10 have entirely flattenedthe end portion of the wrapper, whereby said fingers are prevented from being seized by said jaws (Figs. 4, 4a.).

Fig. 1 illustrates the construction of the folding mechanism. All parts of this mechanism are connected to a common holder 11 which is adapted to be adjustably mounted in the wrapping machine. The pivots 3, 4 are fixed to said holder. The folding fingers 5, 6 and the folding fingers 7, 8 are mounted for angular reciprocation about these pivots. The folding fingers 5, 6. have straight working, edges 12, 13 and the folding fingers 7, 8 have oblique working edges 14, 15. Fig. 1 shows the conditionof the mechanism at the time the folding fingers are in the working positions according to Figs. 3 and 3a. Attached to the fingers 7, 8 are arms 16, 17 which carry pins 18, 19 on which rollers 20, 21 are rotatably mounted. These rollers cooperate with a guiding member 22 having bevelled guiding surfaces 23, 24 and operate in such manner that, when the guiding member 22 is moved upwards, the rollers 20, 21 are pushed apart and the working edges 14, 15 of thefolding fingers 7, 8 are moved towards each other. When the guiding member 32 is moved downwards, the rollers 20, 21 are kept in contact with the guiding surfaces 23, 24and the fingers 7, 8 are returned to their starting positions (Figs. 2, 2a) by means of springs 25, 26. In that case the rollers, 20, 21 are moved towards each other as soon as they roll olf the surfaces 23, 24 of said member. Provided between the pins 18, 19 and projections 27, 28 of the folding fingers 5, 6 are compression springs 29, 30 driving the folding fingers 5, 6 towards each other when the folding fingers 7, 8 are forced towards one another by means of the guiding member 22. p

The guiding member 22fis adjustably fixed to the driving rod31 of the folding mechanism by'means of an ad justing screw 32. The driving rod 31 is, in a manner not shown, moved up and down by the driving mechanism of the wrapping machine. If the driving rod 31 is moved on upwards, i. e. farther than shown in Fig. 1, an inward-.

1y pointing stud 33, which is adjustably attached to the guiding member 22, so engages projections 34, 35 of the folding fingers 5, 6 as to move these fingers from each other and to return them to their starting positions against the force of the springs 29, 30.

At about the same time that the stud 33 engages the projections 34, 35, the driving rod 31 contacts with its upper end the jaw 9 of the pair of tongs. The jaws 9 and 10 are swingably connected to the holder 11 at 36, and 37. The jaw 9 is linked by a link 39 to one end of a swingable lever 41 at a point 38. This lever is rotatably supported at the point 40 and connected at a point 43 to the jaw 10 by means of a link 42. A spring 44 tends to keep the pair of tongs open. When the jaw 9 is moved upwards by the driving rod 31, the jaw 10 is moved downward by means of the lever system 38* 42, so that the end portion of the wrapper 2, which in the meantime has been given an 8-shaped cross section due to the action of the working edges 12, 13 and 14, of the folding fingers, is flattened in the direction of the vertical axils of said 8. In that condition of the mechanism (Figs. 4, 4a) the folding fingers 5, 6 are returned to their starting positions, but the folding fingers 7, 8 are still in the positions shown in Fig. 1. If thereafter the driving rod 31 is moved downward, the folding fingers 5, 6 are first moved again in the direction towards the positions corresponding to Fig. 1 by the springs 29, 30, but they do not reach these positions, since in the meantime the fingers 7, 8 are drawn back towards their starting positions by the springs 25, 26. The fingers 7, 8 then abut against catches 45, 46 which are provided on the fingers 5, 6 and project in the paths of the fingers 7, 8, respectively.

As seen in Fig. 5, the jaw 9 has an upstanding ridge 47 provided on its front face. This ridge overlaps the front face of the jaw 10, when the pair of tongs 9, 10 is closed, and then presses a cross-rib 48 in the flattened end portion of the wrapper 2. It has been found that, due to this rib, the flattened end portion of the wrapper will come to hang in a sloping position after the pair of tongs has been reopened, so that, even if during the downward movement of the driving rod 31 the fingers 5 and 6 should be brought by the springs 29, 30 into a position in which the working edges 12, 13 would nearly touch each other, these fingers will not come into contact with said flattened end portion but will remain at a higher level. In addition, the rib 48 facilitates the foldingback of the flattened end portion of the wrapper along the side of the cigar. However, this operation is carried out at a next station of the wrapping machine and does not form part of the present invention.

What we claim is:

1. A device for folding the tubular wrapper end portion extending beyond the end of a cigar wrapped in a sheet of packaging material, said cigar being adapted to be positioned with respect to said device along a predetermined axis which comprises, in combination, a first pair of cooperating folding fingers, said fingers having working edges obliquely directed with respect to said axis, a second pair of cooperating folding fingers having Working edges extending parallel to said axis, a pair of tongs, said tongs having cooperating jaws, a common support upon which said first pair of folding fingers, said second pair of folding fingers, and said pair of tongs are movably mounted, the fingers of each pair of folding fingers being mounted for movement towards and away from one another along a geometrical surface passing through said axis and said jaws being mounted for movement towards and away from each other in a direction at right angles to said surface, spring means normally urging said folding fingers and said jaws in one direction relatively to each other, and a reciprocating driving unit for moving said folding fingers and said jaws relatively to one another against the action of said spring means, said driving unit being mounted for movement in a direction towards and away from said surface and being provided with surfaces for selectively acting upon said jaws, said first pair of folding fingers and said second pair of folding fingers, said surfaces being arranged to cause the fingers of the first and second pairs of folding fingers to move toward one another, then to act upon the second pair of folding fingers against the action of the spring means to cause the fingers of the second pair to move apart, and finally to act upon said pair of tongs to bring the jaws of said tongs together against the action of the spring means.

2. A device for folding the tubular wrapper end portion extending beyond the end of a cigar wrapped in a sheet of packaging material, said cigar being adapted to be positioned with respect to said device along a predetermined axis which comprises, in combination, a first pair of cooperating folding fingers, said fingers having working edges obliquely directed with respect to said axis, a second pair of cooperating folding fingers having working edges extending parallel to said axis, a pair of tongs, said tongs having cooperating jaws, a common support upon which said first pair of folding fingers, said second pair of folding fingers, and said pair of tongs are mounted for pivotal movement, the fingers of each pair of folding fingers being mounted for movement towards and away from one another along a geometrical surface passing through said axis and said jaws being mounted for movement towards and away from each other in a direction at right angles to said surface, first springs normally urging the fingers of said first pair apart, second springs acting between said first pair and said second pair and normally urging the fingers of the second pair together upon movement of the fingers of the first pair together, and a third spring normally urging said jaws apart, and a reciprocating driving unit for moving said folding fingers and said jaws relatively to one another against the action of said springs, said driving unit being mounted for movement in a direction towards and away from said surface and being provided with a first surface acting by cam action upon the fingers of said first pair to force them together, a second surface acting by cam action upon the fingers of said second pair of folding fingers to force them apart, and a third surface acting upon said jaws to force said jaws together, said first, second and third surfaces acting in series during each stroke of said reciprocating driving unit.

3. A device as defined in claim 2, wherein the free end of the surface of one jaw of the pair of tongs facing the surface of the other jaw, is provided with a ridge extending at right angles to said axis, said ridge being positioned to overlap the end surface of said other jaw when the pair of tongs is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,875,979 Beutel Sept. 6, 1932 1,964,411 Beutel June 26, 1934 1,979,496 Schilback Nov. 6, 1934 2,016,650 Pedersen Oct. 8, 1935 2,237,911 Neurnair Apr. 8, 1941 2,245,193 Hartmann June 10, 1941.

FOREIGN PATENTS 322,853 Great Britain Dec. 19, 1929 

